New Mexico State Police vehicles are
transitioning to a newly designed license plate that features an image
of the uniform shoulder patch, which has been in continuous use since
1935.
See our collection of vintage NMSP plates
here.

Chile Plates are popular!
More than 20,000 issued in first month of availability,
read more here.

The New Mexico Transportation History Project
is a not-for-profit organization working to record and preserve the
history of motor vehicles in the state of New Mexico. This website
provides a visual account of a particularly important aspect of that
work, i.e., the history of motor vehicle registration and licensing,
including a permanent photographic record of every type of New Mexico
license plate which has been issued from Territorial days to present.

The photos begin with the Territorial “pre-state” tags issued by certain
municipalities starting in 1910, then continue with the state-issued
plates which first appeared shortly after statehood was attained in
early 1912. Multiple styles of some types of plates exist and you will
find most of those varieties illustrated as well.

We also include photos of many related items such as early vehicle
titles and registration certificates, driver’s licenses, chauffeur
badges, tribal plates, error plates, Highway Department signs and maps,
plates issued by U.S. military installations within New Mexico, and so
forth.

All of the photographs seen here are from the book Early New Mexico
License Plates by Bill Johnston, and/or from the NMTHP archives.

NMTHP would like to hear from you... Do you have an old New Mexico
license plate that you would like to know more about, or that you would
like to donate or sell to our organization? If so please
contact us!

This site is

still under
construction.

Let us know of any errors you see, whether typographical, factual, or
otherwise.